Forced
by SierLeAn
Summary: What had happened? SheItThey could not remember. It hurt to try, sheitthey could feel heritstheir body tremble at the thought of trying. AU/Canon Divergence.


It was dark, _she_it**they** were confused. Where was _kind_soft**leader**_**Rose**_? Where were _Lithe_graceful**renegade**_**Pearl**_ and _big_strong**reliable**_**Bismuth**_ wherewh_erewhere__**wherewheREWHERE-**_

_**WHERE ARE MY FRIENDS!**_

_Her_Its**Their** eyes opened, _she_it**they** didn't know where _she_it**they** were. Nothing was recognizable nothing _she_it**they** could see or _See_, and so _she_it**they** were scared.

There was a noise, and _she_it**they** stumbled with a strangled groan. Maybe **Rose**_Pearl__**Bismuth**_**Friends**_**CrystalGems**_ had come back for _her_it**them**.

What had happened? _She_It**They** could not remember. It hurt to try, _she_it**they** could feel _her_its**their** body tremble at the thought of trying.

_Wherewhere where RosePearl? Bismuth? Wherewhere ar__**e you?**_

Something was there. _She_It**They** knew what it was. What was it? It was wasw_asw__**as**_..

**Rose**. _RoseRose__**Rose! She was here!**_

* * *

"What are these things?" Connie yelped, slashing at another hand-foot combo.

"I-I dunno!" Steven exclaimed, bashing away his own strange body-part mash-up, poofing it with the force. "They look like fusions, but of- of gem _shards_!"

"Shards as in.." She didn't finish, she didn't need to. Shards. As in Shattered. _Dead_.

One of the upright pillars of rock suddenly shook, causing them to turn and back away from it. It trembled and cracked, and in a sudden burst of light rose a larger fused gem shard. The silhouettes of who the individual shards used to be formed, reaching, mouths open and screaming, before suddenly condensing back and forming a monstrous hand-shaped mix-match of arms and legs and eyes.

They backed away from it, huddling behind Steven's shield, cringing at it's garbled shrieks and groans.

It reached, hands inches from the shield when it suddenly jerked to a stop, eyes rolling in panic and confusion before it was swiftly torn away and slammed against the floor, letting out one last shriek before its form exploded.

Connie and Steven squinted against the leftover fog its poofing left.

"Bismuth..?" Steven murmured. But no, as the smoke cleared it was painfully obvious that it wasn't the Crystal Gem leader standing before them.

It was obviously another fusion, as mix-matched as the rest, however it was a lot more whole. It's legs and feet, while not proportional, were where they should be. As it turned, they could see that its arms, four in all, two of the same size and shape, and two of opposite sizes, were also where arms should be, its stocky red one and thin blue one were held in front of it, hands clasped together, while it's purple pair hung limp at its sides. It had dark, poofy hair and purple skin, with patches of red and blue all over. Its face was the most alarming, no nose or mouth, just three large eyes set diagonally across its face.

It swayed in place, simply staring, and Steven realized its gaze was fixed firmly on his shield. Further testing confirmed it, its eyes never straying from it once as he moved it side to side, up and down.

"I- I think it.. she? I think she recognizes the shield." He whispered.

"What? How?" Connie asked.

He shrugged, a heavy feeling settling in his stomach. Taking a chance, he lowered the shield and straightened from his defensive stance.

"H-hi?" Her eyes flicked from the shield and she stilled.

"Uhm, I'm Steven," He gestured to himself, then to Connie. "This is my friend, Connie. W-we're Crystal Gems."

Her eyes widened, flicking from the shield to him and Connie. She took a step.

"Steven!" Three and a half pairs of eyes shot towards the entrance as Pearl, Bismuth, and Amethyst burst in with a rush of noise.

"Oh, Steven, Connie, there you are!" Pearl fretted. "Peridot got away and we ran into these... monstrosities while looking for you. Did you see any.. gem shard fusions? Are you okay?"

"Uh, P..." Amethyst called, eyes wide. Beside her, Bismuth had a hand to her mouth, eyes wide and far away.

"What, Amethyst? I'm trying to.. to... oh my..." She finally caught sight of the stranger in their midst. The fusion hadn't moved, but it's eyes were locked on Pearl, then Bismuth, passing over Amethyst briefly, before repeating.

Bismuth let out a shaky exhale, looking uncharacteristically close to tears. "That's.. that's... it can't be.. she..."

Pearl breathed out one word, disbelief and grief heavy in her tone.

"Garnet..?"

* * *

_**Authors Note**_

_**Weird little idea I came up with in the shower, dunno if I'll continue it, just thought it was an interesting premise.**_


End file.
